Hi! I read that in ancient Greek "the chrysalis – which is the next stage of metamorphosis from a caterpillar – was called nekydallon in ancient Greek, meaning “the shell of the dead”. However, I could not find this Greek word nekydallon in a couple of Greek dictionaires I consulted. I wonder if this word really existed/exists with this meaning? Any advice is welcome.
Aristotle:
Ἐκ δέ τινος σκώληκος μεγάλου, ὃς ἔχει οἷον κέρατα καὶ διαφέρει τῶν ἄλλων, γίνεται πρῶτον μὲν μεταβάλλοντος τοῦ σκώληκος κάμπη, ἔπειτα βομβυλίς, ἐκ δὲ τούτου νεκύδαλος· ἐν ἓξ δὲ μησὶ μεταβάλλει ταύτας τὰς μορφὰς πάσας. Ἐκ δὲ τούτου τοῦ ζῴου καὶ τὰ βομβύκια ἀναλύουσι τῶν γυναικῶν τινὲς ἀναπηνιζόμεναι, κἄπειτα ὑφαίνουσιν· πρώτη δὲ λέγεται ὑφῆναι ἐν Κῷ Παμφίλη Πλάτεω θυγάτηρ.
Out of a certain great worm (σκώληξ), which has antennae (κέρατα), kind of, and differs from all others, comes first a caterpillar (κάμπη) when the worm changes, next a cocoon (βομβυλίς), and out of this a nekydalos (νεκύδαλος). And in six months it changes through all these forms. And from this animal, some women even take apart the cocoons, unwinding them, and then do their weaving. The first said to weave them was Pamphile daughter of Plateus, in Kos.
From Aristotle’s description, I would have thought that the νεκύδαλος was the moth, the thing that comes out of the cocoon, not the chrysalis inside of it. The LSJ dictionary calls νεκύδαλος “the nympha of the silkworm” – that is, the chrysalis – but I’m not sure that it fits Aristotle here.
If νεκύδαλος does mean “silkworm moth”, then δαλός (burned) may be something like πυραύστης (fire-singed = moth), and the silkworm moth is being called a “corpse moth”.
I cannot discern better than your suggestion. Alternatively, moths and butterflies after making the cocoon (he mentions that in one of their species the cocoon is unwound to make silk) become pupae. If I am not mistaken, the cocoon acts as a protection while the hard skin of the pupae is being formed, but not sure. I will investigate this further. Thank you so much, your detailed reply, it helps me much.
It also seems likely, departing from the LSJ dictionary again, that βομβυλίς (another unique word) is really the chrysalis form. When he talks about the cocoons in production, he uses the word βομβύκια. So in his scheme, there are three stages to silkworm life:
- κάμπη, 2) βομβυλίς, 3) νεκύδαλος
That would be, caterpillar, chrysalis/pupa, moth.
What complicates this description is that in silkworm production, a lot of the time you never see the moth-form, as the worm is killed before that point. Aristotle seems to be describing the full life cycle here, before going on to talk about silk production.
it may be the case, but if we take the individual meanings of νεκύ and δαλος seems to me (at first sight) that it is not related to a moth, But, I will need to investigate better in the next days.
νεκύς is corpse. And δαλός is used from Homer on with a primary meaning of burning stick. But δαλός is also cited once by the LSJ dictionary in a dirty poem in Anthologia Graeca to refer to an old man. The LSJ suggests that this is implies a meaning like “burnt out torch.” Maybe.
But to understand understand the moth-fire relation, look at the word πυραύστης, literally “fire-singed” or “lit by fire”, and used to mean moth in Aeschylus. Presumably because moths are attracted to open flames. Aristotle also uses the word πυραύστης to describe some sort of species of honeycomb parasite:
Ταῖς δὲ μελίτταις ἐγγίνεται ἐν τοῖς σμήνεσι θηρία ἃ λυμαίνεται τὰ κηρία, τό τε σκωλήκιον τὸ ἀραχνιοῦν καὶ λυμαινόμενον τὰ κηρία (καλεῖται δὲ κλῆρος, οἱ δὲ πυραύστην καλοῦσιν· ὃς ἐντίκτει ἐν τῷ κηρίῳ ὅμοιον ἑαυτῷ οἷον ἀράχνιον, καὶ νοσεῖν ποιεῖ τὸ σμῆνος)…
Despite the “καλεῖται δὲ κλῆρος, οἱ δὲ πυραύστην καλοῦσιν” (“it is called Clerus, but some call [it] Puraustes”), the description makes it appear that Aristotle is referring to two separate beehive parasites. The κλῆρος would be “Clerus apiarius” (Trichodes apiarius). But the worm that Aristotle mentions that spins a web (τὸ σκωλήκιον τὸ ἀραχνιοῦν) must be a wax moth, and is presumably the πυραύστης.